Harrison leads Blaze with pair of homers

Ben Harrison hit two of Bakersfield's four homers as the Blaze outslugged the Oaks, 8-6, on Wednesday.

Harrison went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs as Bakersfield (4-9) won its third straight game against Visalia (5-9).

The Blaze trailed, 6-5, when Harrison led off the eighth inning with a drive over the center-field fence for his second homer of the game. Brandon Boggs followed with a double and scored on a throwing error by second baseman Jason St. Clair to put the Blaze ahead.

German Duran drove in Bakersfield's final run with a groundout in the ninth. Micah Furtado went 3-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs for the Blaze, who overcame an early three-run deficit.

Harrison led off the second with his second homer, and one out later, Steve Murphy sent a pitch from starter Brandon Mann over the right-field wall for his second homer, cutting Visalia's lead to 3-2.

Ryan Bukvich (1-0) allowed an unearned run and two hits with one walk and three strikeouts over two innings to get the win. Mike Padgett picked up his first save of the season after replacing Edwin Vera with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Padgett threw a pitch that got past catcher Emerson Frostad, but covered the plate in time to tag out Francisco Leandro to end the game.

Shaun Cumberland and John Jaso homered for Visalia. In the bottom of the first, Cumberland followed a leadoff walk to Fernando Perez and a single by Reid with his league-leading sixth homer of the season. Brignac and Leandro both went 3-for-5.

Jarod Matthews (0-2) took the loss, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on three hits with one walk and one strikeout.

The teams conclude the four-game set at 9:35 p.m. ET on Thursday. --Jeannine Rippa/MLB.com